Finding Peace in a World of Worry

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Monthly Archives: April 2016

Ah! So today’s scheduled funny post is being postponed till probably next week so I can address some of the adults in my life.

Now, I know that we all have differing opinions, but, as I’ve learned this week, some of the ways we express those opinions have real life repercussions. Let me explain. Today I saw thisarticlewritten by one of my favorite Christian bloggers, Rachel Held Evans. The first paragraph of her post broke my heart and filled me with anger:

“It’s been reported that in the wake of all the controversy surrounding North Carolina’s HB2 “bathroom bill,”calls to transgender suicide hotlines have more than doubled. A quick glance at my Facebook timeline would explain why, as the amount of fear and misinformation being spread about transgender people seems to be reaching a dangerous peak.”

Let me spell that out again; the debate this week over transgenders in the bathroom have made this already marginalized and ostracized community feel more afraid, and less safe in their own environment, to the degree that suicide seems to be a “good” solution (when of course in reality this is the absolute worst solution). And it’s not because of the policies that have been put in places like Target. It’s because of the way some of those those opposed to the policies have shown their opposition.

THIS is why I’ve been so passionate this week. Transgendered people are people. It’s just not a matter of having their feelings hurt. They are a people group that is repeatedly harassed and ridiculed (whether by being called “he-she’s” or with memes demeaning them by showing people poorly dressed in drag.) We would never think of passing a meme around of an overweight kid and calling him names…..Do we not see that this is the SAME THING??

Even today after posting the Evans article on my Facebook news feed, there began a fairly quick debate about the morality of transgenderism and LGBTQ persons. Young people are committing suicide because of a lack of support and the best the adults around them can do is sit on their bums and debate whether or not their lifestyle is a moral one.

This lack of concern for the people themselves is offensive and needs to stop NOW! People’s very lives are at stake! And the saddest part here is those memes and comments I’ve seen shared this week have been by ADULTS!!

Now, I understand. I get it. It’s in our human nature to maybe laugh or make a joke when faced with something we don’t understand that makes us uncomfortable. But I think there is a better approach to this issue than chuckling and posting a childish meme. Think of it this way: What if you have a child that is trying to come to grips with feeling that they’ve been born into the wrong body? Feelings they don’t understand and need parental guidance to help to navigate. But what if that same child sees you sharing these off color memes and making these comments? Do you think that child would feel safe confiding in you what’s been going on? Do you understand now why this child may attempt suicide?

It’s time for us to all grow up and band together to stand up for and show love towards these people…..who were also made in God’s image, by the way. 😉

Before we get to our topic of the day, here is one giant flaming thing to consider if you ever decide to post an “opinion” on the internet. Now, before I say this, let me clarify that I am a proponent of free speech…..

That said, if your “factually logical” arguments in regards to anything, but specifically the Target debacle, contain holes that I could in theory drive the Starship Enterprise through, I will have no other choice but to call you out. I’m looking at you, Matt Walsh (PS-By the way, you may want to get that thing in your eye checked out and possibly removed. It looks painful).

Now that we have the political rant out of the way, let’s move on….TO CANADA!

Specifically where this photo was captured. (Ok, I can’t just embed the photo, so here is the accompanying article from the Huffington Post):

For those that want to save the click, the photo shows Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau helping to carry a man in a wheelchair down a broken escalator in a Montreal Metro station.

I originally saw this photo on a page I’m subscribed to on Facebook. Along with this photo on the page were comments such as: “Trudeau is SO dreamy,” “Look at him being such a help. This is great!” (Blogger’s Note: The preceeding comments were heavily paraphrased and do not reflect a word-for-word transcription of the actual comments, although the comments shown here accurately reflect the spirit of the actual comments contained in the original piece.)

Not to completely plow over your feelings of “Yay! We helped” but as I look at this photo, all I can think about as a disabled woman who uses a chair is:

1. Where is the elevator and why wasn’t he using it?

2. Was carrying him down the stairs the only option (why no elevator?) and if that was the case, that is unacceptable.

3. Did the disabled man want to be photographed being helped? And…

4. How did the disabled person feel about getting this help? There have been times honestly when I’ve been helped in this way and on the outside I have been polite andthanked those that helped, but on the inside I’ve wondered “Why haven’t they gotten whatever fixed” Or why didn’t they have an elevator? I do try to be understanding, but there are times that my patience has worn thin.

I remember our Senior Trip (ironically to Canada) and we went to a Broadway-type show. Our tickets had been purchased way before, and when we got there we discovered that our seats were in the balcony, and THEY DIDN’T HAVE AN ELEVATOR!! They did offer to help lift my chair up the stairs……But I just kept thinking, “WHY don’t you have an elevator? Seriously!” I refused their offer to lift me up the stairs because the staircase was winding and I didn’t feel particularly safe with that approach.

Fortunately it was a lighter attended show, so they had seats available on the ground floor that I was able to use and enjoy the show.

So the next time you see a photo of someone helping a person in a wheelchair, after regarding that the person did a good thing, think about why it happened in the first place and maybe brainstorm a few ways to really fix the situation.

The following poem has nothing to do with our topic of the day, except it involves our oldest cat. I just thought you’d be interested in her current digestive woes. #yourewelcome 😉

“Roses are red, violets are blue, the oldest just puked into mommy’s dress shoe”…………..

Happy Tuesday, y’all! Ok, not sure if there was a part 3 to this series, but I’m sticking with the title.

So let’s do a recap of the last month: We took in our oldest cat to get checked out by the vet. We were sure she had lost weight, but she had actually gained. After feeling like the worst parents on the planet we hunkered down and followed the vets advice. We fed smaller portions into smaller bowls (I hoped this would trick our cats into thinking they were getting more than they were getting).

One month in, things are going pretty well. We were told that we could bring her in to thevet to be weighed at no charge anytime, but we haven’t done that yet. Night shift scheduling is really kickin’ our booty and it’s stressful for her to go in the car back and forth.

But we had a brainstorm. We thought, “Oh, we’ll just weigh her at home because we have a bathroom scale! That should TOTALLY work, right?”

This is how well that actually worked out:

Yeah, she didn’t understand that she actually needed to stand on the scale in order for it to get an accurate reading.

So we have no idea how much she has lost, but we are beginning to see some definition in her hind quarters instead of just a big uni-bum, so that’s something.

Another weird thing that has happened is that she’s not eating as much. Like her metabolism has adjusted to the new portion and she’s no longer frantically demanding more food when she’s out.

In fact as of a week or so ago, she’s no longer eating all her food during meals.

Guys, apparently she has gone on a hunger strike.

Why?

Well, she just found out that her presidential candidate of choice,Limberbutt, will not be on the ballot come November. Even after I explained that because Limberbutt was a cat and therefore didn’t have a social security number, he was ineligible to run. Which led into a discussion of what a social security number was and how you have to have one to even vote for president.

That further bummed her out because she was looking forward to participating in this thing we call democracy. So she decided to take drastic action and go on a hunger strike. Until cats everywhere are able to vote for the candidate of their choice….no matter how many legs they have or how furry they may be.

Today also marks 1000 days that Chad and I have been married. The picture below from our wedding perfectly sums up our relationship. I mean, to a freakin’ T:

So happy 1000 days honey! I wouldn’t have changed a single moment! ❤

**Blogger’s note: the title of today’s bonus blog refers to the place this photo was taken. Our photographer masterfully captured this shot in a normal parking lot, but made it look like paradise. We picked a great one. 🙂

So I was getting Chad’s coffee ready to go to work a few days ago when I grabbed one of our new mason jars (he carries his coffee in mason jars. More on that later 😉 ). As I was filling it up, I noticed a peculiar thing. See if you can spot it in this not so great quality photo:

It says, “1913-1915: 100 Years of American Heritage”

I know I suck at math, but in what universe is a gap of 2 years equal to 100??

Ladies and gentlemen, THIS is what happens when we allow Common Core math into our schools!!

**A caveat for today to help you understand my state of mind at the moment: I woke up this afternoon (still on night shift-don’t judge 😉 ) and definitely felt off. Like I know Aunt Flow is fixing to arrive soon. Oh, she’s not here yet, hasn’t dropped her luggage, but she’s definitely circling the area 😛 **

Let me break down what just happened at our house. I was hungry. Really I was pretty hangry and had to take a few moments and breaths and had to try and remedy the situation by grabbing a can of soup from our pantry and a spoon from the kitchen drawer.

Then I sat down in our living room next to my purse that had exploded earlier and I hadn’t had time to put it back together. I grabbed my spoon and dug into the soup of rigatoni and sausage goodness.

And slowly began to feel human again.

So, happy in my new found human-ness, I sent some important emails, watched a couple YouTube videos and then it happened.

I glanced down at the floor and made a horrific discovery; the spoon I had gotten out of our kitchen drawer was still lying on the floor, unused.

WHAT had I used to eat my soup?? :-O

As it turns out, it definitely was a spoon…..but one that I’m pretty sure the cat had licked pumpkin off of earlier in the day.

Gross-a-Roo! 😛

Since I didn’t notice I had eaten off the cat-spit spoon till after my soup was gone, I’ve decided that maybe catspit has healthy junk in it that may benefit me.

Chad and I don’t have cable TV. So it wasn’t until someone posted on Facebook about an episode of Who Do You Think You Are that I researched online where I could watch it.

Why?

Because the episode happened to deal with one branch of my family tree. As Katey Sagal, the Hollywood actress, sought information about her mother’s side of the family. Her mother had died when Katey was young.

It turns out that Katey Sagal is my 8th cousin.

How freak-a-deakin cool is that??

The story told on the episode is as beautiful as it is tragic. A true story of loving your enemies under excruciating circumstances. But I’m not going into details of the episode.You can watch it for free at this link:https://www.discoverygo.com/who-do-you-think-you-are/katey-sagal/?(it should be noted that this episode is still locked and can only be viewed if you have an account. It should unlock next week. I didn’t watch the episode through here but may have watched a pirated version on Youtube. As I’ve sinned enough for today, I won’t link the Youtube video, but if you can’t wait till next week Google may be able to help. 😉 ).

So today I gained a new relative. And you want to know something crazy ironic? Sagal is best known for the character she played in Married…With Children; Peg Bundy. This show was popular when I was a kid. But back then I had no idea she was my cousin.

And we were not allowed to watch the show due to some of the content.

**Cue gasps of disbelief**

So it begs the question: If my parents had known back then that we had a famous TV actress relative, would we have been able to watch the show?? I imagine the conversation would go like this,

Mom: “No. You can’t watch that show. It’s not appropriate for you.”

Me: “But ma, Miss Katey is our kin!” (I have no idea why I just gave myself a southern drawl, just go with it)

Mom: “You may watch it when you are older” (this is a parenting tactic that is deployed when you want to redirect your child’s attention in hopes that “when you are older” you forget that they gave you permission to do whatever it was that they said you were too young to do).

So welcome to the family, Katey! I hope you like large meals cooked with love, beautiful four-part harmony and a hearty resolve to get through anything life throws at us.

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About Me

A housewife and full time cat wrangler of 2 (of the domesticated kind, wild cats would increase my anxiety--although that could create good content for the blog--) who tries to find humor in any and all situations while living life with anxiety
For more fun content including original stories, follow me on Steemit.com at https://steemit.com/@lulabelle